A/N - Hello my lovelies! I am sitting in an airport before I board for Europe (as shout out to all those reading from there) and I was able to squeeze i another chapter for you before I leave. The next won't be until the 17th or 18th this month, so I made it a long one for you. Enjoy!

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Emma shifted, twisting the sheets like vines around limbs as she woke. A full minute passed as she tried to figure out where she was and why her body felt strange; then the night before rudely returned to the fore front. With a groan of displeasure she covered her head with a fringed pillow, just now realizing she was in the Queen's bed and sat up to take in the room. It appeared to look the same as it had in their spelled life, but it wasn't seen with little eyes. That difference was sobering. The familiar picture on the nightstand brought memories rushing back.

The blonde leaned over and fingered the gold scrolls of the frame holding a picture of them in their other life, a two for one selfie first thing in the morning where her little half decided to make a funny face last minute. Of all the pictures the Queen had taken this was one that showed both of them uninhibited, and she knew was one of Regina's favorites; coined as a perfectly Emma thing to do. In the haze of waking she wondered briefly over how it could be here, and then remembered the spelled trunk Regina had said acted as a transport between worlds. The Queen must have known they'd be returning home soon and had prepped as she always did, ahead of time. The thought and care that went into that piece of their journey home Emma was grateful for.

She sighed with want and decided it was time to brave the day. The smell of breakfast wafted through the vent overhead calling her stomach to attention. Bare feet found the floor and she went to find her Keeper, no to find Gina. That thought tugged roughly at the snapped thread in her chest along with another much heavier one sitting on her heart.

'Was Gina still Mama?'

The thought made her pause in the kitchen doorway breath catching. A negative answer would devastate her beyond repair. The familiar tingle from last night flushed through her skin and she shrunk, drowning in the large yellow t-shirt she was wearing and boxers became a puddle at her feet.

A bowl of strawberries nearly fell from the Queen's hand as she observed the shift from across the room, having had her own memory logged mind reminding her of times past upon waking. Her eyes misted, but she recovered quickly and went to kneel down in front of the pint sized Savior who was currently trying to keep the t-shirt from falling off. A wave of her hand changed Emma into a new pair of Wonder Woman PJs that were now spelled to stretch if the girl suddenly had a growth spurt.

"Better?" Voice breaking the quiet and hands went to adjust the shirt collar that didn't need fixing, finally settling on little shoulders.

After a minute, Emma's mouth got to working. "Yeah, thanks. I woke up big and now…" A frustrated, but accepting shrug. "Why is this happening?" She fell into open arms resting her head on a shoulder and was grateful to be picked up, already missing that closeness being an adult kept from her. The arms holding her were tight and immobile for a long moment before Regina headed toward the counter.

"That is what we need to spend today talking about, among other things. Did you sleep well?" She set the girl onto a stool, letting go with great reluctance and went to finish plating breakfast.

"Kinda, until I wasn't." A little hand reached for a piece of turkey bacon when a plate was set down.

"Did you have a bad dream?" An automatic question.

"No." Emma scrunched up her face now unsure if her presence had been welcome since she hadn't been little at the time. "Why?"

"I just wondered if that was why you came to me last night." The brunette dumped coffee out of the yellow mug she'd prepped for Emma and after a rinse, put watered down OJ in it instead before taking a perch on the empty stool.

"I'm sorry."

Regina sighed when her words were mistook and turned so she had green eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry for, you are always welcome to seek comfort from me, big or small." She set the mug next to the girl and fluffed wild curls. "Especially just because."

Emma relaxed and took a sip of juice, pining after the steaming mug in a regal hand. "I was reeaaaally looking forward to coffee this morning. Do you think since we are home now that—"

Regina shook her head. "Absolutely not, at least when you are small. You may have all the coffee you want, within reason, when you grow again." Full lips took a firm line at the scowl forming.

"Is that a rule?" Emma pressed back, wanting to know exactly where the line was again.

"It is." A knowing smile teased. "Care to challenge it?"

"Maybe after breakfast." Little teeth tore into another strip of meat, chewed with worry and swallowed before speaking. "What do we do about this? I'm supposed to go to work on Monday. What does this mean for us? And what about when I'm big again, how will that work?" Gesturing between them and at her small body, as panic of the unknown began to take over.

"Well, first we need to talk about what may be triggering the shrinking and if you can control it." Regina began as a strawberry found her mouth.

She paused and thought more about the other questions. There was a lot to consider and the few hours of sleep she'd gotten had helped clear her head enough to begin processing some possibilities. She had weighed different options as she cooked breakfast and decided on the most logical to put on the table for Emma's consideration. One she thought made the most sense given their circumstances.

"For us, we will keep it simple. The rules for how we lived when you were little will apply here when you are little. When you are an adult our rules for that will remain in effect. That way things are predictable, no blurred lines so to speak. Would that work for you?"

Emma processed that. The same idea had crossed her mind. Part of her hoped that would be the case and more than willingly, she nodded. "That will help some, but what about everyone else?"

"That is an entirely different can of worms and one we will open after breakfast." She sipped her coffee, eyeing how Emma now picked at a still full plate. She slipped easily into her role with that little pouting face. "Please eat, you need your energy."

As the girl tucked into her food with purpose at that comment and the Queen further thought about how to navigate their new conundrum and wondered about Emma's question. How would the town react? What about Snow and David? Their son? That made her head spin and hurt. They had kept their preparation quiet for the spell, even from Henry. It was deeply personal and since it didn't affect other people and wasn't supposed to, upon their return, they hadn't felt obligated to share. Now, that privacy would be infringed upon and that did not sit well with her. It never did. Those thoughts broke when she watched a wobbly plate levitate across the counter and shatter in the sink, sending shards flying. One landed in her coffee, splashing the dark brew against white marble.

Their eyes met.

Emma bit her lip and shrugged sweetly. "Oops."

"Oops? Emma, what did I tell you about using your magic last night?"

If it was possible for that pale face to go paler Emma accomplished that feat. "Not to, but I forgot and you told big me, not little me." Scrambling for a possible loop hole she found.

"Nice try, but you are one and the same here." Regina stood to begin cleaning up the mess knowing that when the spell ended both halfs of Emma had blended, as the spell book said she would. "And that means you are susceptible to the same consequences. Find your corner please."

"But-but-but—" A raised brow and a manicured finger pointing made little feet automatically move in that direction. Emma sighed and found her usual spot. She could hear glass being swept and dishes being cleared away as she thought about why her magic was so shaky. She'd preformed that spell dozens of times and never broke a dish, wondering if her little untrained body that wasn't used to magic was at fault.

The timer on the stove chimed, releasing her and she went right to the Queen, hugging those legs as hands rested on her head. "I'm sorry and I won't use it again when I'm like this. I think my magic isn't used to my shrinking, like it's thrown off or something and maybe that's why it's not working right."

"Looks like you used your corner time appropriately. Your theory is a very real possibility. We will test that idea when you are big again."

"What about everyone else, Gina? If this happens in public or if someone sees me?" Her brow pinched.

"Let's start with why you are shrinking and growing. If we can figure that out and if you can control it, that will affect my answer to that question. Come sit with me." They made their way into the living room and she sat. Emma seemed to hesitate for a moment, so she patted her lap in welcome, smiling when the girl found her usual place. "Now, last night before you shrank, do you remember what you were thinking right before it happened?"

"I was thinking that something was wrong when I couldn't hear mini me anymore, but also right when I realized she's still me." Blushing when she admitted knowledge she'd tried to use to worm her way out of corner time.

"I thought as much. And when you grew?"

"I just saw myself bigger I guess and missed being taller."

"What about this morning before you shrunk?"

Emma's whole face turned pink. "I don't wanna tell you."

Patient as always, Regina waited a minute before trying again. "I need you to tell me sweet one so we can figure this out."

Green eyes flashed up at the affection. "Am I still?"

"To me you will always be my sweet one. Is that what this is about?"

"Kinda, yeah. I wondered if… if you were still Mama and then I got small." She buried her head into dark hair. "I don't wanna grow up yet. It happened to fast and I think something broke on the way back. My chest feels funny, like something snapped that shouldn't have, but it feels okay, I think. It's hard to explain." Emma waited for Regina to finish checking her for injury at the mention of something breaking.

"Does it hurt anywhere?"

"Nope. Just an ache when I think about having to be big again. I missed parts of it, but like I said I don't wanna grow up yet." Grumbling the more she thought about it. "Not like I have a choice though. We are home again."

"Perhaps the spell somehow knew that and maybe broke the tether keeping you completely an adult. I'm not sure even if that is what happened and I will need to do some research to figure that out. Mean time the spell has made it so you don't have to grow up yet, not all the way at least."

Green eyes welled. "But mini me is gone and I don't know how to be her here."

"She is not gone." Reassuring Emma as much as herself. "All you have to be is you and that is something we have been working on in both lives."

Emma ducked her head, needing to ask, but anxious at the answer. She had lost too much, had be given too many false hopes and starts in life not to be. "Does that mean you are still Mama?" Wet meadows looked up again as a bottom lip caught between teeth.

Hope answered. "As long as you want me to be, Emma. I told you always and forever when you asked me if it was okay that you considered us a family and I meant that."

Emma rested in that comfort, letting go of her swollen lip. "So how do I control the shrinking… Mama?" Tasting the word in this life with a little mouth and finding it brought the same joy.

"There seems to be a connection to your desire to be a child or missing parts of it and becoming small and for growing, perhaps it is as simple as wanting to be big again. Try thinking about yourself as an adult now and we will see."

The girl squirmed, not liking that idea, but closed her eyes. She thought about being big again, but the pressures that came with that and thoughts of the warm lap she was on along with wanting to stay in those arms kept the familiar tingle from taking over.

One shoulder popped up and down quicker than a jack rabbit on a pogo stick. "Guess that doesn't work."

"Did you try your best?" Regina dropped her tone in knowing.

"Noooo."

"Emma. We need to test this."

"But what if I can't get small again, like this is a fluke or something?" That possibility made her stomach clench and after being rudely ripped from their other life last night she was anxious to have to face this world again as an adult.

"I hardly believe this is a fluke and you seem to have more ease with the shrinking than growing, so please try for me so we know for sure."

"I don't want to." She wanted to say no, but knew that was not an option, in either life.

Concern filled russet eyes at the lack of a whine she'd expected now realizing why Emma was upset and she moved her hand to the child's chin, lifting. "I understand that and part of me doesn't want you to either." A little smile sprouted between them. "When we got home last night I was afraid I'd never see my little girl again, even though I know you are the same person, that realization was triggered when you shrank and grew."

"I didn't think about how that would make you feel. I've been so focused on me through this whole thing that… I'm sorry for not considering how... I should have known that."

"You have nothing to apologize for Emma. You've been a child, my child, for ten months, at least in the other time line, and a lot changed between us there that we will need to talk about and learn to navigate."

"You're still my best friend Gina. That hasn't changed." The blonde liked how those words eased the lines in the brunette's face. "You're still Mama, too and… I realize I need you to be both, just like I know I have to me, no matter how complicated that will be."

"And that is a very grown up thing for my little girl to say."

With a deep sigh like popping a soda can tab, Emma closed her eyes and accepted tingle that took over returning her body to full size. She went to move off of the Queen's lap, but those arms wouldn't let go.

"I'll hurt you Gina. I'm too big." Even as those words were said Emma settled back.

"You are never too big to be held when you want or need it."

"Promise?" Emma closed her eyes, overwhelmed with a feeling she had no words for.

"I promise." One sealed and delivered with a kiss to a pink cheek.

A familiar, yet forgotten ring tone in the foyer distracted them and the Regina raised her brows as the lyrics from Hole – Nobody's Daughter came floating into the room.

"I thought I asked you to change that."

"You did. I just didn't." Emma hopped up at the pat to her hip, smirking over her shoulder as she went to pick up her phone, actually not missing being glued to technology. Snow's name flashed across the screen and she declined the call, sending a text instead.

"Who is it?"

"Snow. We were supposed to have lunch together this weekend at some point, but I never confirmed before we left cause of the spell stuff and now…" She shrugged, leaving the phone on the table and returning to the sofa.

"And now?" Regina wrapped her arm around those adult shoulders that seemed to carry the weight of the realms as Emma at down.

"I don't want to see her today. It'll be weird and I don't want to risk shrinking and having that blow up in my face." Emma slouched, picking at the cuffs of her PJ sleeves and tracing the gold W pattern on the fabric of her wrist. She didn't feel like Wonder Woman at the moment.

"Probably wise at present, but you cannot avoid her forever."

"I know." A blonde head dropped to the Queen's shoulder. "I just will today."

"We may need to tell them Emma, in case something does happen. They won't understand otherwise and that may create a very big problem." The practicality of that idea made the Queen feel numb; that would not be a pleasant conversation.

At all.

"You don't think they'd try to like take me or anything?" The horror drained what color was left in Emma's face.

"I don't think they would know what to do, but having an opportunity to know you as a child would mean the world to them." Snow would melt and so would her Prince Charming, at first. Then the skirmish would begin. "I can imagine the anger they'd feel if they didn't know why suddenly their daughter is a little girl and only wants the Evil Queen." That affix rested bitterly at the corners of her lips.

"Hey!" Emma jerked up, jabbing a finger into a tan forearm. "You don't get to say that about yourself Gina."

"You are right, I apologize." The brunette receded immediately, knowing how much her girl hated that rare slip.

Pacified for the moment Emma's hand found the Queen's. "I'm an adult though and it's my choice who I'm with, even if I'm fun size. They'd have to see it that way."

"I know Snow, better than she knows herself sometimes and that is not how she will see it, dear heart. Not in the least. Waiting for them to find out will backfire and they will find out. We cannot stay in this house forever and life must go on."

"I'll tell them, I will, but not today."

"Not today, but tomorrow we need to begin living again."

Emma nodded eagerly at that firm tone. "I can try my magic now, if you're cool with it?" Wanting distraction from that reality and receiving a nod she waved her hand summoning Stitchy. Her fingers scrunched happily in his blue fur. She tested a few more spells, including poofing across the room and back.

Regina smiled. "Your theory seems to be correct, so our new rule stands. No magic when you are small, until I teach you, that is."

"You taught me a lot of things." Guilt took over that pleasure.

"I can practically hear your thoughts. Share them with me please."

A tingle took over and Emma shrank again. She lay down to rest her head in the Queen's lap. "Have I ever taught you anything?" Her thumb rubbed her bottom lip, asking permission to enter.

"Nearly every day I learn something new from you or about you. Most importantly you have taught me that I can love again, not in the same way as I did Daniel or even as I do Henry. It's different and I am still not sure how to define it, but I have you to help me."

"We are a team."

"The best of the best, sweet one."

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The next morning brought the reality Emma had been dreading and a return to her adult size upon waking. She was grouchy at the thought of having to tell her parents about the spell. They'd originally planned to keep the spell just between them, but now with the shrinking side effect and the unpredictability of that, the special memories she shared with the Queen would be open to scrutiny. She sighed as she finished getting dressed and turned at the knock on her open door.

"Are you nearly ready?" Regina stepped into the room, watching with amusement as Emma hopped on one foot.

The Savior finally shoved her foot into the boot, excited to actually get out of the house for a bit. They had tested the shrinking effect and growing several times throughout the day yesterday and she felt she had enough of a handle on the change process to brave breakfast at her favorite diner. It was still random, but for now if she concentrated she could shift at will half the time with success. She wondered if that would get better or worse over time.

"Yeah, I just need to figure out my hair." Smiling at the Queen and catching sight of her wild mane in the mirror as she tried to run fingers through tangles. She dropped them automatically when she felt familiar hands threading the curls into the beginning of a braid. They both froze for a moment, their eyes meeting in the mirror before the blonde turned around.

"This is what I mean Gina. How do we do this?" Emma caught the olive hands before they left her hair. "I didn't mean that I don't want your help. I need your help. I need this... both. I just don't know what this is yet. I like to have terms for things and I did before we left, but now… I'm scared."

"I'm scared too, for some of the same reasons as you, I think. That fear of rejection and the unknown is something that runs strong in each of us." Regina looked away briefly gathering her thoughts ready to share what had been pooling in her throat for the last day. "Caring for you as a child made me realize that I've missed having that role. When Henry left for collage my role as his mother changed. He didn't need me taking care of him like that anymore. After experiencing that in the spell again, something inside woke up. I need to be needed like that and now that we are home again, I am not sure how that role fits outside of when you are small."

"Maybe we are thinking about it too hard." Emma hoped it was as simple as her next words. "If it feels right or good to us, let's just be ourselves with each other." Green shifted between brown.

A proud red smile formed. "When did you get so wise?"

"I have a good teacher." Emma grinned back and turned around. "Will you do a fishtail braid?"

Those hands returned in answer and soon after they were making their way to the Benz. Emma routinely went to the back door and after a moment of hesitancy went to the passenger side. It was strange riding up front as they drove to Granny's.

"When are you meeting with your parents?"

"After we have breakfast, at noon I think, at the loft. They said Neal was at a friend's house, so it'd just be us."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"

"They'd BBQ you Gina before they BBQ me. It's my stuff to deal with and I don't want them trying to make this about you or attacking you for thinking that this was your idea. Their minds will go there anyway and I don't want you in the cross fire."

"Still, I'd like to take you and drop you off at least."

"I'd like that. Thanks."

At the diner they found their usual booth. Ruby greeted them with menus and Emma found she was actually bummed at not getting the color mat with crayon pack she was used to. She read the menu twice before shoving it away with a sigh, not sure what to get.

"Is something wrong?"

"No… Yes… Maybe."

Regina tilted her head. "Which is it, dear heart?"

"I don't... I just… Do you remember Christmas Eve when we went to that fancy restaurant and we read the menu together and you asked me what I wanted to eat?" She continued when she received a nod. "I couldn't tell you then, but I can tell you now. I liked it when you picked for me. Not having to make decisions like that was so freeing. I miss that already. I know it's dumb of me, but I do." Eyes became glassy.

"It is not dumb and that negative reference of yourself is your one warning." The Queen leaned forward in the booth and softened. Picking up where they left off as her girl needed her to. "Would you like toast or bacon with your eggs?"

"Bacon all the way…Real pig bacon, not the bird kind." Emma grinned, blinking back tears as Ruby came to the table and Regina ordered for them. The waitress didn't seem to think that strange and she relaxed. "I just realized that this is kinda like the first day of the spell. You took me to Granny's remember? Except this time I don't want to set you on fire with a flame thrower."

A nod. "You were quite upset that day."

"Yeah, it feels like forever ago, but not." Another realization hit. "How did you deal with that hate from me?"

"It wasn't hate. Anger, even rage at times, but never hate." Regina recalled the embers of little green eyes past. "Some part of you seemed to recognize my intent and truth to my words. We had a goal, planned the steps, and worked them as they needed to be worked. Most things tend to work themselves out from there."

"Still, I was less than nice to you on a good day." Emma's lips twitched remembering some of the harsher things she'd said.

"And on good and tough days you learned to be. We found our way and we will again, here too."

Their drinks arrived shortly after and Emma happily sipped a cup of coffee, the bitter taste sweetened with cream.

'Maybe being home again won't be so hard to adjust to after all.'

"Emma! Seriously?" A shrill shout accompanied the matching ring of the diner door.

'Nope, never that simple.' Emma thought as her shoulders hunched to her ears in the booth at the anything but sweet sounding voice coating the air. Green eyes matched Snow's across the diner.

Regina turned to see the former Princess stalk toward them. "Why is she so upset?" She whispered whipping back around.

"Cause-I-kinda-blew-her-off-when-she-asked-me-to-breakfast-this-morning…" Emma rushed and turned on a smile when Snow parked in front of their booth. "Hi, fancy meeting you here."

Snow nodded once to Regina and turned annoyed eyes to her daughter. "You could have told me you had plans already with Regina instead of telling me you had paperwork to catch up on at the station."

"I do have paperwork. I just changed my mind and I thought you'd have other plans by now." Emma shrugged, not daring to sneak a peek at russet eyes she knew were calculating that half fib. "We are still set for noon though right?"

"Yes, and maybe after we can have lunch together?"

"Maybe, yeah." The blonde shrugged noncommittally and dropped her head back against the booth as the Princess walked away to get a to-go order. She looked down her nose and away quickly when she caught the brow arch.

"Paperwork, really?"

"Yeeepp, lots of it."

"Emma, we've talked about this."

"And you said we don't lie to each other, you never said anything about other people, Gina. And technically I always have paperwork to catch up on at the station. That never lets up." She shoved two strips of bacon in her mouth when their food arrived.

"Speaking of which, we need to advertise for an assistant at the station to help with that." Regina cut into the smoked salmon avocado confection on toast.

"I don't need an assistant. I got it. I just need time to do it, hence not having breakfast with Snow."

"But you'll put off paperwork to have it with me?"

"Always." Her sweet, but cheeky reply got her nowhere.

"We will discuss what qualities you are looking for in the applicant, you may be in on the interviews, and hire whomever you wish, but you need an assistant. There is money in the budget and the station is understaffed as it is."

"That's not much of a discussion."

"Then please think through other options, present them, and we will look at other possibilities as I always encourage you to do. Deal?"

"Deal." Emma swallowed and squirmed in her seat. "Ssssooooo, am I in trouble for the small, tiny, little-bitty white lie, but not a lie I used to get out of breakfast with Snow so I could have it with you?" Smiling sweetly and filling her mouth with more bacon.

A fork paused outside of prefect red lips. "Do you need to be?"

Defiant, but not a defiant shrug. "Am I?"

"That is not what I asked you." Brow arched in wait.

"And that's not what I asked you." Emma pressed the issue, not wanting to admit the truth bobbing in her throat or to have to decide her own fate.

"Emma. Do you need to be?" The fork lowered to a plate.

"No… Maybe…" Shoulders finally dropped with guilt. "It was a crummy thing to do."

"You are right though, we never set the rule about fibbing to apply to other people, just between us, and I will honor that." Regina offered a genuine out to the blonde.

"Can I think about it?"

"Of course, though I'd like an answer by dinner time."

Emma nodded, a fair compromise, already deep in thought about the pending conversation with Snow. She nibbled on her eggs as the brunette watched her pondering what the rest of the day would bring. The short time she'd been awake had been a whirlwind of emotions and she suspected to be further unhinged by the day's end. She wondered if she would find absolution with herself in a place she suspected she needed to be and guided by the hand now reaching for her own.

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Please Review and fan art for the chapter is on my Tumbler. *waves*